Up From Slavery: Chapter 4 Summary & Analysis

One of Washington’s most frequently recurring struggles is finding enough money. However, he believes that one can overcome any financial burden with the application of hard labor. Therefore whenever he discusses problems with money, he usually will follow with a description of how he worked to overcome these problems.

Washington again highlights monetary obstacles that he has to overcome in order to succeed. This passage is the “struggle” section of Washington’s problem-struggle-solution paradigm.

Despite Washington’s insistence that his accomplishments are only the result of hard work and perseverance, often Washington receives aid from those above him. Washington is always grateful and credits those who help him, but he is also insistent that it is only his labor and merit that allows him to accomplish his goals.

These lessons are foundational in the formation of Washington’s educational philosophy. He sees the selfless labor of his teachers and wants to emulate it. He learns the value of the industry of keeping stock and fowl (domesticated animals) as well as the importance of spiritual upkeep. These lessons will directly impact his formation of the Tuskegee curriculum later in the narrative.

Although Ms. Lord does not play a major role in the narrative after this passage, her contribution to his development as a public speaker is deeply significant to Washington’s later life. His public speaking ability is arguably one of the most significant qualities that he develops at Hampton.

Washington includes this passage to highlight just how much the black citizens of his hometown value education.

Washington repeatedly denounces political action throughout his narrative. He believes that this sort of activism only creates false and constructed forms of uplift for African Americans, and often these forms of progress crumble under pressure. Washington sees such actions as foolish and wasteful. He would much rather the miners prove their worth through excellent labor and hard work. However, Washington is drawing from one particular example, that of this worker’s strike, and drawing very general conclusions from it. There is little historical evidence to back up this claim, and most sweeping reforms of labor rights were achieved through protest or political agitation.

Washington’s mother served as an anchor for him, connecting him to his hometown and his family. After her death, Washington focuses all of his energies on his career as an educator and rarely mentions his home life or his hometown.

Washington claims to have solved his family’s crisis after his mother’s death by labor and hard work. Although he does not explicitly say so, Washington most likely detested the uncleanliness of the house and its disarray, as he felt that a virtuous house was a clean house. It is significant that it is labor, not help from the community or familial bonding, that solves the problem. Also note that Amanda, as a woman, is assumed to act as the homemaker despite her youth and inexperience.

If Washington’s mother’s death is the problem and his hard labor in Malden the struggle, then Ms. Mackie’s proposal is the solution in this iteration of the problem-struggle-solution paradigm. Washington was eager to labor with Miss Mackie and prove his worth both financially and academically.

Throughout his narrative, Washington suggests that those in upper class society have gotten to their positions through their exemplary merit. So whenever he introduces a rich or famous person, he is always sure to explicitly mention that person’s merit.

Again, Washington highlights the merit of Armstrong by constructing him as a figure who is so virtuous that he is above reproach. This idea of the rich as inherently virtuous and deserving of their fortune fits into Washington’s worldview and ideology, but is clearly very problematic. Many of the rich families that Washington names in the narrative, such as Rockefeller and Carnegie, acquired their wealth through a combination of inheritance, family connections, and questionable business and labor practices. So while Washington may believe that their wealth is indicative of their virtue, it is more indicative of their connections and lack of scruples.

Here there is another “problem-struggle-solution”: Washington’s problem was that he was unqualified to wait tables for a high-class hotel restaurant, and his struggle occurred when he was fired. However, his solution, like most of his solutions, comes through the application of hard work and improvement.

Teaching in Malden provided Washington with his first opportunity to apply his educational philosophy. He worked long days to ensure that his students learned the importance of self-improvement and book learning. His claim that the toothbrush is the one of the most important tools demonstrates his feeling that appearance and cleanliness are both important factors in demonstrating merit.

This night school is a precursor to the one that Washington will help to run at Hampton and the eventual night school that he will found at Tuskegee. Washington sees the grueling schedule of the night school as a test that can serve to prove the worth of poor students who cannot depend on their money for an education.

While Washington largely focused on his career after his mother’s death, he still attempted to take care of his brothers by providing them with an education. To Washington, the best way to take care of his brothers was to educate them, as this education provided them with a means by which to raise their positions in society.

The Ku Klux Klan is an infamous racial group that protested the equality of black Americans through violence and intimidation. Washington is correct that after Reconstruction many chapters of the Klan disbanded because, for the most part, they were successful in disenfranchising black Americans from the right to vote, own property, or even exist in peace. However, Klan activity resumed in the early 20th century after the publication of this book, and the early 1900s saw some of the worst violence from the Klan, which lasted until well after the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The Klan also still exists today, although it is nowhere near as popular or actively violent as it used to be. However, the Klan’s continued activity demonstrates that Washington’s vision of a racially harmonious future has not been realized to the extent that he claims.